What You Become After Graduation

Closing the chapter of one part of your life and then opening up another gives such a weird feeling of transition from a type of death and rebirth. Regardless of whichever level of education you are graduating from, whether one is moving from high school then off to college, or moving on as an undergrad into the workforce or graduate school, one feels as though they are growing up and being pushed to hold some sort of new responsibilities.

It is because you are no longer where you once were that causes some level of excitement as well as some anxiety, but it is also the new leg of your life’s journey that you are picking up that makes you feel as though you can’t rely on certain, and somewhat childish, behaviors that you exhibited before you donned a cap and gown.

I believe this feeling of having to act more mature is, at first, just pressure from the individual themselves, but in reality, “less mature” traits seem to actually just naturally evolve over time through experience and acquired knowledge. I suppose what I mean to say is you may or may not want to stop playing beer pong in graduate school like you did back in the day when you were most likely completely wasted the majority of your weekends as an undergrad, and you may or may not want to take your favorite stuffed animal with you from home when you first move into the dorms. It doesn’t really matter. You can do whatever you want and you shouldn’t be forced to think or act a certain way just because you graduated. Over time you will find yourself and your place in the world and life will totally be okay.

What you become after graduation shouldn’t be anything that you don’t want to be. Be yourself and don’t freak out about what everyone around you may be possibly telling you where you should be in your life. You will eventually get to where you would like yourself to be whether it is sleeping in your own room without a teddy bear or getting a job you love and living in a state of satisfaction. In the meantime just calm down and have fun at your graduation party.